Railroad safety-switch



UNITED sTArns ingEN-r oFmoE.

GILES S. APPLETON, OF BURLINGTON, VERMONT.

RAILROAD SAFETY-SWITCH.

Specification of Letters Patent No.\22',844, dated February, .1859.

To :all whom.` it' may concern:

Beit knownthat I, Grimes! S. APBLETON, of Burlington, in` the county i of i Chittenden and State of Vermont, have .invented certain newand useful :Improvements in `Switches for Railroads; and I doherebydeclarethat theffollowingzisla full, clear, andexact description thereof, reference being had to the Iaccompanying drawings, and to the lettersfof referencef marked thereon, uforming a p ait of this specification.

To enable those skilled in the art to which` myinventionbelongs to make andiuse the same, I will now proceed to describeit.

Figure l, is a perspective view andFig; 2,

vis a cross section oflthe switch and traverse rails in theline raw, Fig. A1.

n, n, are the permanent `rails of a. single track, and A,B, C, A', B, C, are the per manentirails of threetracks.

.E, E, aretwoiongswitch rails. rIihese rails are pivoted at l1., z,,'or otherwise held by a `Ilexible joint, which will permit of` their being vilbrated on a poi-nt nearthe per-i` manent-track n, n, as shown inlFigl. These as shown in Fig. 2. The ends of these rails next the rails A, B,\etc., are grooved out for a very short distance, thegroovesbeing deepest at the widestfends ofthe rails E, E. Thesegrooves are seen at 1,2, and 1,`2.

Afterthese grooves are made, there appear short elevations, which resemble rails, be`

tween the grooves, asseen at a, b, c, and-c', b, c. These grooves all terminate at the top of the rails FLE', `and at a short dis-` tance from theirwidest ends, as fully shown inFig. 1.

The switch rails E, E, in addition to-be` ing pivoted` or hinged at h., are fastened to wide-cross-bars G, G, bylbolts or pins.

Upon the inside of the-switch rails E, E,

are placed thetraverselrailslF, F. These traverse rails resemble somewhatuthe switch rails E, vlil',inasmuch as they are narrow "at the ends nearest the rails n, n', and gradually wider toward their opdposite ends.`

These traverse rails are fastene to thewide cross bars G, G', in such a manner that an open space is left between them and the rails E, .E, of sufficient widthto allow `of the tia-nge of a wheel topass along and between the rails E, E', `andvF, F', 4while the tread of the wheels restson and moves along upon thetops of the rails E, E. This opening is seen at Z, Z, Figs. l, `and 2, fand extends from top to bottom, the entire lengthv of the rails F, F.

The traverserails F, F', are provided on 'their inner and top -sides `with guards or rails H, H, which extend their entire length as shownV in Fig. 1.' They are also provided with short Vguide or guard rails c, c, which extend about the same distance as the grooves in the switch rails E, E. The guide or -guard rails c, c, are just sufficiently far from the guard rails H, H, to'permitof the .flange of the wheels to pass between them in the groove g, or g', while the tread of the wheel rests upon'the short rails c, c. `The-rest of the traverse rails F, 413",-have smoothrand even surfaces, as seen at f, f, Figs. l, and 2. This surface `rises toward theA ends m, m.

The traverse rails `F,F, being fastened to the widecross bars `or supports `G,Gr, to which the `switch rails E, `-E.,-are "attached, are moved byathe same means'and at the same time as'the switch rails, and have the same center of motion ornearly so.

The l wide and sliding ends o'f both the y switch and traverse rails rest and'slideupon theAp-latesD, D. 4These plates D, D, have their ends turned up 4as shown in Fig. l, at 3,73, and 3', 3', so that the extreme extent which the rails can be moved ineither direction, is governed by the rising ends 3, 3', ofthe plates D, D.

The switch may be moved and locked in any desired position by anyof the well known devices nowin use for moving and locking switches.

Theoperation is as follows: Ifa train of cars pass over the trackinthe direction of the arrow i, and the `switch be in the position shown in the drawings Fig. l, then the cars would pass from the track or rails n, n, over the switch rails and on to the rails C, C. Now if while thelswitch is in the position-shown, a train pass in the directlion of'arrow 2, on the vrails A, Af, it will not be thrown off of the track, since the angesof the wheels on one side of the cars, will pass into the.short inclined groove z', in thewide end of theswitch rail E, while the `flanges of the wheels onthe other side of the cars, will pass into the groove g, on the traverse rail F. The wheels are thus guided upon to the broad faces of both the switch and traverse rails and as they continue to move on, the guard rail H, in con-4 p tion that the flanges of t-he wheels on one side of the cars would pass in the short groove 2, while those on the other side of the cars would pass on to the smooth and even face f, of the traverse rail F.

The wheels of the cars would, however, be guided on to the smooth surface or face of the switch and traverse rails F, and E, and from thence, as before described, on to the rails n, n. It will thus be seen that it is impossible for a train to run olf the track. If a train pass in the direction of arrow i, in whatever position the switch may be locked, it cannot run off the track, for if the switch be wrong, the train will run upon some one of the tracks, and thus give the engineer time to stop his train. Neither can atrain be thrown off in passing on either of the tracks in the direction of arrow 2, for, as before described, if the switch be wrong, t-he train will pass without danger over the switch and on to the rails, n, n. It is often the case on many of our Northern roads that six or eight different tracks run together so that the trains from each have to pass on to a single track. In these cases, owing to the switches used, getting out of order, or being left locked in a wrong position-numerous accidents are continuallyT occurring. Again in those switches, which have been devised for avoiding these accidents, it is found that the long `and severe winters of the North, have not it should be simple and effective, it should at the same time, be of such a construction as not to be easily affected by snow and ice. I have also found that there is less liability of a trains being thrown off, when passing over a misplaced switch, if the wheels are allowed some considerablelateral play, inasmuch as when they are closely confined,

while so traversing, they are allowed considerable lateral play. By having the upper surfaces of the rails E, E, smooth, and allowing the wheels to have a lateral motion on the same, the ice is cut up and thrown off the rails. ln thisway the switch is made a self cleaning one, but should the ice accumulate too fast, to be cleaned away by pass/F5 ing trains, it would require but a short time, owing to the simple construction of the switch, for a man to clean it way with a pick or shovel.

It will be noticed that any number of tracks can be used by simply widening the switch and-traverse rails.

Another great advantage of this switch consists in the fact, that in its first construction it would cost but little more to make one for six or eight tracks, than it would for three,and that one made for six or eight can be used for two or three just about as well as if made for two or three o-nly. Again it will be noticed, that the traverse rails F, F, are somewhat lower than the switch rails E, E, and that the relative arrangement of these rails is Such, that the flanges of the wheels on one side of the cars (when the switch is misplaced) will always run upon one of the traverse rails, while those on the other side of the cars will always run on one of the switch rails. By this arrangement, owing to the traverse rails being a little lower than the switch rails, the cars are inclined toward the right track, whereby much strain and wear on the guard rails H, H, is avoided. It will also be noticed that by my arrangement the wheels are permitted to pass in varying paths after they reach the tops of the switch and traverse rails, and thus are permitted to vary their line of motion to suit varying circum- 'flanges are close up a'ainst the guard rails H, H. C

Having` described my improved switch, 2. Allowing the Wheels to play upon the what I claim as new and of my invention, Wide traverse and switch rails, after leaving and desire to secure by Letters Patent, sthe short lift Ways and guide rai1s,and before 1. The combination of the broad and even they reach the main track substantially in f 5 switch rails E, E', with the broad and even the manner and for the purposes above de- 15 traverse rails F, F', long guide rails H, H, scribed. and short lift and guide rails a, Z), c, and G. S. APPLETON. [L 5.] a', b', c', when the same are arranged in re Witnesses: lation to each other substantially as shown JAS. B. WHEELER, 10 and described. T. E. WALES. 

